Burmese cat

　　Cats like to damage furniture, scratch claws, chew plants, and jump around. These are all natural instincts of cats, and even if owners want to change this, it is not easy to train.

　　Strictly speaking, training pet cats to stop damaging furniture is not a matter of one day or night. Therefore, to prevent cats from damaging furniture, owners should simplify the furniture in the home as much as possible during the early stages of raising cats, and place decorations in high places out of cats' reach. At the same time, protective measures should be taken, such as covering furniture to prevent cats from damaging them during the training period.

　　Before training, owners should understand that jumping high, scratching claws, chewing plants, and so on are natural instincts of cats and normal behaviors. Owners who attempt to change the nature and behavior of cats need a firmer mindset and persistent training spirit. Meanwhile, during the training process, some understanding and tolerance should be given toward cats' instinctive behaviors like jumping, scratching, and chewing plants, because it is not easy for cats to change these behaviors, and owners should patiently educate and train their cats.

　　To prevent cats from damaging furniture, owners can use the method of redirection. First, buy a professional scratching board from a pet store and place it near the cat’s sleeping spot, because after waking up and stretching, cats naturally want to scratch something. They will soon use the scratching board. To attract cats' attention to the scratching board for a long time, owners can spray scents cats like on the board or sprinkle something cats enjoy, to maintain cats' interest in the scratching board and prevent them from damaging other furniture.

　　Of course, when cats habitually scratch furniture, owners should immediately stop them by commanding the cat to stop scratching, then bring the cat to the scratching board to scratch, and reward the cat with treats to encourage using the scratching board. To prevent damage to the furniture, owners should trim cats’ nails in a timely manner; cats without sharp nails will cause less damage to furniture. (Source：PetsZone)